Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-10-08
HOME SEEKERS.
A Big Rush at the Land
Office Yesterday.
SOME OFFICIAL STATISTICS.
Twenty Thousand Acres of Land
Filed On-FOur Thousand Dol
lars Receipts.

Before daybreak yesterday morn
ing applicants for the railroad indemi-
ly land began to arrive at the office on
North Main street, and when the doors
opened at 10 o'clock there was surg
ing throng of humanity awaiting the
ready officials. Filings for homesteads,
pre-emptions, etc., were handed in
with the accompanying fees as fast as
they could be received, and at IL
o'clock when respite was taken for
lunch the treasury showed that $4,000
had been handed in during the two
previous hours. The human tide did
not ebb during the afternoon, and
when HERALD reporter called for
some statistics Just as the Office was
closing at 3 p. NJ, his tired informant
pointed sadly to mass of documents
piled up on one of the many desks.
"That represents" said he, "our days
work. Ihave not yet had time to
count them, but l believe that from
$50 to 200 applications were filed for
every description of land-homestead,
pre-emption, desert and timber cul-
ture. About $4,000 was paid into the
CASHIERS hands, and as near as we
can compute about 10000 acres of
land have been filed on. We have
not had minutes rest all day"
eyes," added an official who was
sitting at an adjoining table, "they
are working this Office with about
so per cent. of the strength 1t
should have to cope with the
work that is continually. on
hand. 1t will be impossible for
us with our present establishment
to handle and dispose of the last of
those papers," pointing to the filings,
"for several weeks"
us it not probable" asked the re-
porter, "that several filings have been
made on the same piece of land"
Certainly, and 1 will tell you
what course we will pursue.
You see everything that has
been filed to-day is regarded
as having been done 30 simultane-
ously, and if we find that there are
several applications for the same tract,
that section will be put up at auction
among the said applicants and sold to
the highest bidder"
'I thought you said the other day
that first come would be first served.
Many people have interpreted that re-
mark as meaning that the firt man
who made the filing on certain piece
of land to-day was entitled to it?"
"No sir, 1 simply meant to convey
what my words said, the first man
who came would be first served-that
is as regards receiving his fees, fling,
ETC., but as regards the applications,
as l said before, everything that has
been done to-day is regarded as hav-
ing been done so simultaneously"
$50 those persons who got here at
daybreak did not gain much by their
enterprise after ALL"
"No, sir; those who come at the
eleventh hour will receive exactly the
same benefits as the earlier ones. l
am told that there were several who
camped outside the Office door all
night. l wish you had looked in
here about an hour after we had
opened. It would have astonished
you."
Noticing that his cordial informant's
eyes occa ionally wandered in the di-
rection OF timepiece that was monot-
onously ticking away on the wall, the
reporter took the gentle hint and
closed the necessarily short interview.